The two foals on either side of her were splitting images of their family.
"Thank you Plummy dear! Pour that sugar right in here!"
Plum, the clever and ever so helpful grandson of her best friend.
"And you're doing great Cheddar, put a little more elbow grease into that stain! No hard feelings, creativity isn't clean! Your ma could tell you that!"
Cheddar, the auspicious but just as messy spawn of her dearest Pinkie Pie.
As she finished mixing up the dough they were helping her throw together she pulled up a big box of frosting, a rainbow of colors available for the foals to pick from.
"The best part is yet to come!"
Plum picked out a vibrant yellow the color of buttercups, along with a lush green like the fields of his family’s farm and a red the color of the fruit they were best known for.
“I think my folks would like these colors! We get to bring the cupcakes home, right Mrs. C?”
He was such a considerate colt, always thinking of the ponies he loved in everything he did. It was as natural as the sun in the sky for the Apples to be this way, and it reminded Mrs. Cake so much of her best friend. He was a hard worker too and always put the utmost care into everything he did.
Cheddar grabbed a much wider variety of colors with as much zeal as would be expected of their mother.
“I wanna use these ones! I don’t think we’ve tried white and orange together! Or green and pink! Let’s try something new!”
They were so innovative, always thinking outside the box and coming up with new ideas even Mrs. Cake herself hadn’t thought of. Passionate about their craft, they weren’t so much focused on perfection all the time as they were learning new things, even with a bit of trial and error. Having fun with it was always the ultimate goal!
Mrs. Cake looked over all the colors that they picked out together and began wracking her brain for an idea, she almost got flustered as she was bombarded with the loving visages of ponies she missed so much.
"Okie dokie! Why don't we compromise? Yellow, pink, green, and orange. Almost like both of your colors! What did Pinkie call those…"
She ruffled up Cheddar’s mane with her hoof before chuckling in delight.
"Best Foal Friend Cupcakes! I made a batch once with your Grandmare Plum, but they didn't have a name until Pinkie! What do you two think?"
The two foals’ faces lit up at the proposition.
“That’s even better! Mommy always has great ideas, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that too!”
“You and my Grandmare did these too? Golly, we’re best friends just like y’all!”
They began buzzing in excitement over what these cupcakes meant to them. For they weren’t just a tasty treat, but a symbol of their friendship. A friendship that would last long after the cupcakes were eaten!
"You…you two get started, I'll be right back!"
Mrs. Ca—Chiffon Swirl removed her apron and stepped beyond the kitchen, making her way upstairs for a moment.
Something was eating at her and she needed to be away. She frantically looked through her drawers until she came across a photo of her in her fillyhood, along with a beautiful curly ginger maned mare.
Seeing it caused her to shed a tear along with her bright smile.
"Oh Buttercup, you would have loved them. Can't leave them alone for too much longer!"
And with that she made her way back, wanting to make more happy memories.